San Francisco – Hennessey @ LAD - Seo (-140 8.5o -120)
Home Plate- Lance Barksdale
Favors Pitchers -
Winds calm
Cleveland - Lee (-115 9o/u) @ Detroit - Maroth
Home Plate- Paul Emmel
Favors Pitchers -
Wind left to right at 15 MPH
KC – Redman @ Tampa Bay- Hammel (-115 10o -115)
Home Plate - Chad Fairchild -
Neutral -
Dome
LAA - Lackey @ Baltimore - Benson (-110 9o-115)
Home Plate - Eric Cooper -
Favors Hitters -
Wind in from left at 8 MPH
Seattle – Washburn @ Boston - Beckett (-200 9o -115)
Home Plate - Laz Diaz -
Neutral -
Wind left to right at 15 MPH
Toronto – Towers @ CHW - Garcia (-150 9o-125)
Home Plate- C.B. Bucknor
Favors Hitters -
Rain likely with wind in from left at 15 MPH
Texas - Loe @ Oakland - Haren (-140 9o/u)
Home Plate - Ed Rapuano -
Neutral
Rain likely with wind out to left at 15 MPH
NY Yankees – Wang (-135 10o/u) @ Minnesota - Radke
Home Plate- Mark Wegner
Favors Pitchers -
Dome
For today’s Top Totals and Sides visit Tony Finn’s pick-pack.
AL NOTES
TWINS utility man Nick Punto was away from the ball park and out of the lineup yesterday due to flu-like symptoms. He is not expected to play today in this afternoon’s game vs. the Yankees………… DEVIL RAYS outfielder Rocco Baldelli has done some work in the outfield but is still at least a week away from participating in an extended spring game. The Rays’ brass guaranteed right-hander Jason Hammel two starts when he was called up from Triple-A Durham due to Mark Hendrickson going on the 15-day disabled list with shoulder stiffness. The second is today against the Royals. But with Hendrickson scheduled Monday to throw an extended spring training game, manager Joe Maddon said Hammel will travel with the team on its upcoming road trip in case Hendrickson, scheduled Saturday to come off the disabled list, has a setback. As for today's start, Hammel predicted it will be different than his major-league debut, in which he allowed seven runs on eight hits last week in a loss to the Orioles. And someone expected him to predict a repeat performance of his big league debut? The 23-year-old right-hander admitted he was overly nervous for his major league debut on Tuesday, allowing seven earned runs and eight hits in 3 1-3 innings of an 8-4 loss to the Baltimore Orioles.…………BLUE JAYS starter Roy Halladay threw some long toss yesterday and said he felt fine. He will start next weekend against the Red Sox, a start that has yet to be determined as to whether it will be on Saturday or Sunday………………. WHITE SOX starter Freddie Garcia is 5-3 with a 5.26 ERA in 11 starts against the Blue Jays, all coming when he pitched for Seattle. The right-hander is 7-9 with a 4.98 ERA in 26 starts at US Cellular Field as a Chicago starter, and the White Sox have just two wins in the last nine home games he's pitched.………..MARINERS starter Jarrod Washburn did not receive a decision in his only start against the Red Sox in 2005, and has not lost to Boston since April 25, 2003, a span of four outings……….RANGERS send Kameron Loe to the mound today to close out a three game series against the A‘s. Loe spent most of last season as a reliever before making the Rangers' rotation during spring training this year.
The 24-year-old right-hander struggled in Monday's loss to the Los Angeles Angels, giving up five runs in the first three innings. He was 0-3 with an 8.10 ERA in four appearances against the Athletics last season, three of them coming in relief…………
NL NOTES
GIANTS outfielder Moises Alou, who has hit three of San Francisco's five homers this season, was out of the lineup for the third straight game on Saturday night with a sore left calf muscle. Manager Felipe Alou said that barring a setback, his son would return to action in the next few days. Barry Bonds (knee/elbow) looked like he was on his last leg while running out a ninth inning double last night. Without a healthy Bonds and Alou the Giant offense is far from intimidating. Currently the San Francisco batting order isn‘t much of a threat to produce the ‘big inning. Right-hander Brad Hennessey was recalled from Fresno of the PCL after Saturday's game and will make his 2006 debut. He was 5-8 with a 4.64 ERA in 21 starts last season.
In two careers starts at Dodger Stadium, he has limited Los Angeles to two runs of 13 innings, but did not get a decision in either outing. Overall, he is 0-1 with a 4.19 ERA in four career starts versus the Dodgers………..NATIONALS John Patterson's first pitch of Saturday’s game registered at 43 mph, and then the next two clocked in at 49. Seeing that Patterson had a career high 13 strikeouts, it appears the new scoreboard needs some radar repair………… The MARLINS' bullpen extended its scoreless streak to 12 2/3 innings…………. DODGERS manager Grady Little said Saturday that right-hander Takashi Saito, technically a rookie but a veteran of 14 seasons with the Yokohama Baystars of Japan's Central League, is emerging as a strong candidate to fill the still-vacant setup role in the club's bullpen. The LA bullpen has taken a hard hit early this season losing closer Greg Gagne and second-year Yancy Brazoban. Naming Saito as the primary set-up man had to be painful for Little. So painful in fact that he might be the next Dodger to go on the disabled list………. St. Louis outfielder Jim Edmonds said that the shoulder soreness hasn't affected his swing. But the CARDINALS want to make sure that Edmonds is 100 percent for the long haul so they rested him on Saturday. He went just 2-for-15 through the opening four games of the home stand. Don’t believe a word out of Edmonds mouth. The injury IS affecting his swing, especially his power. Edmonds received a cortisone shot for his injured shoulder on Friday and is not expected to play today……….…PIRATES scouts reported on Saturday that Ian Snell, the starter this afternoon‘s game against the Cubs has been working the past few days with pitching coach Jim Colborn toward developing a more consistent delivery on his breaking ball. His progression towards being more consistent with not only his deliver, but his results, has been night and day from where he was less than a week ago. Those same scouts like his chances today against Glendon Rusch and Chicago. Rusch is 1-7 lifetime against the Pirates.……... ROCKIES starter Aaron Cook has never beaten the Phillies, going 0-2 with a 9.77 ERA against them in four appearances, including three starts. He's allowed at least six runs in each of the three starts……….…The BRAVES will be without Edgar Renteria, who strained his left rib cage swinging at strike three in the sixth inning of Saturday's win. While the Nationals are possibly suffering more injuries than any team in the league, the Braves are not far behind…….
HINDSIGHT IS 20-20
While working yesterday’s [Saturday] card we contemplated using the Dodgers at home against the shaded number of San Francisco’s Jason Schmidt, but rated the game outside of the parameters of a ‘live or value play’. What we didn’t know was just how bad Barry Bonds is hurting, and how un-Bonds like he looks at the plate. Without Moises Alou and Bonds in the Giants batting order this team just doesn’t get the same respect it has the last couple of seasons. In retrospect, Bonds who was intentionally walked yesterday shouldn’t be, he simply isn’t healthy enough not to be challenged at the plate, and this Giants team currently can‘t be backed with confidence. At 10:30 EST this morning there was as much as a .40 cent discrepancy in the number on the game today between the Giants and the Dodgers. BoDog.com had the number of Dodgers minus 102 while Caesars had the Dodgers as a buck-forty five favorite.
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